Metaprinter » Asides

Metaprinter Inc. to Boycott BP

Robert Ivan — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 18:42:46 +0000

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/06/scenes_from_the_gulf_of_mexico.html

There isn’t much we can do to express our outrage over this mess except write a letter to our elected officials, never buy anything from BP ever again AND use as few plastics as possible. This is just what Metaprinter Inc. will be doing from this day forward.

Robert Ivan
Owner, Metaprinter Inc.

Advertisers and Readers Return to Newspaper Industry – Profits Up

Robert Ivan — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 11:47:21 +0000

In a stunning turn of events for the newspaper industry Q1 2010 numbers show that readers and advertisers have returned to this medium. Experts suggest the return is real and that long-term the outlook for newspapers and newspaper revenues look strong. One ratings analyst with April Capital Management was quoted as saying, “look, where else are people going to raise awareness for their brand or read the news? Newspapers seem the best option for both customers”.

No comment from the Google Topeka executives who are now scrambling to unload their digital advertising and data mining enterprises.

When the Money is Gone, It’s Time to Move On

Robert Ivan — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:04:06 +0000

Found via @ehelm on Twitter

Bing “Decision Engine” Review

Robert Ivan — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 04:27:57 +0000

Bing.com is a new search engine that advertises itself as a “decision engine” becuase it helps you make decisions I guess. The site is not up and running yet but they have a video you can watch to see what they’re offering. I always like to try new offerings which may make my web experience more enjoyable, like Wolfram Alpha’s comparison feature, anyway so I sat through the Bing video.

…they need to redo the video. Why? Because right as the following is being said, “…instead of spitting out search results by popularity we break them into logical categories and bring the best match to the top… and show related searches right there in the results page” The picture below is being shown.

See that? In the search history. Colbert Report… what the hell does that have to do with anything? Nothing! It’s distracting. The running search example in the video is Home Depot, so colbert? Take it out! I’m still looking forward to seeing how Bing will actually work though. Will it help me realize self actualization? It better because that is how high the bar is set.

UPDATE:

Bing is now up and running. I did a simple search comparison for “NJ Boater Safety Course” on Google and Bing and Bing came out on top. It came back with the most relevant sites.

Google – Results 1 – 10 of about 1,130,000 for nj boater safety course. (0.17 seconds)

Bing – 1-10 of 80,500 results

Metaprinter Giveaway Winners Announced / What I Learned

Robert Ivan — Fri, 01 May 2009 23:45:35 +0000

A number of people have asked me to write some reflections on running The Metaprinter Giveaway this past week.

Winners:

4Gig iPod – Jeff Emsweller. Jeff spent 22 year in the journalism field, starting as a photographer for the Rushville (IN) Republican newspaper. At Rushville he served as sports editor, assistant editor and then was named editor of the Batesville (IN) Herald Tribune. Jeff also served as editor of the Greensburg (IN) Daily News and then as Publisher of Greensburg, Rushville and Batesville.

Jeff has won numerous state and national awards from writing, photography and layout and in 1989, he was honored to have a fire photo submitted and considered for a Pulitzer Prize. Although he did not win, he still treasures the documentation received regarding that nomination.

Jeff is presently the marketing manager for an auto body repair shop with two locations in Southeastern Indiana. “My passion remains for the newspaper industry”.

1Gig iPod - H. J. Mann. H. J. is the Vice President of Financial services sales Firethorn LLC, a Qualcomm company. H. J. has 15 years of experience in technology and business development. He has held leadership roles in leading organizations such as Acxiom, Epsilon, and DoubleClick. H. J. lives in Dallas with his wife and daughter. Thank you Robert! www.firethornmobile.com

$20 Amazon.com Gift Certificate – Maikel Neris. Maikel is a 27 years old Brazilian web designer and WordPress developer. Thanks for the prize! www.maikelneris.com.br

Results:

Over the course of the 4 days we ran our giveaway there were 39 on site entries (and a total of 108 entries via twitter, linkedin, and email. But those don’t count. Sorry). RSS subscriber numbers remained unchanged over the week (in a normal week it goes up by a handful) however site visits were up ~5%. Pageviews up ~10%. Pages per visit up ~5%. and Bounce rate fell ~11%.

The week wasn’t a massive success in terms of driving traffic – however that wasn’t my overall goal. The main thing that I wanted to do over the week was to add to the sense of community on the site – to have some fun – to get a few lurkers participating and to thank readers for being a part of Metaprinter. In this regard the week was a big success with many first time comments and a lot of thank you emails from readers who seemed to enjoy it.

Thanks again! Any Ideas for the Next Giveaway?

At the Next Conference Remember Guy Kawasaki’s 10-20-30 PowerPoint Rule

Robert Ivan — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 17:50:56 +0000

I attended two big newspaper conferences recently and was horrified at the powerpoint presentations I had to sit through. If you are going to use powerpoint (and remember YOU DON’T HAVE TO) please follow the best advice that I ever got from my days in graduate school.

Guy Kawasaki’s 10-20-30 PowerPoint Rule

10 slides
20 minute presentation
30 point font minimum size

A popular blog hires some old media guys who’ve been laid off

Robert Ivan — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 20:10:38 +0000

A popular blog hires some old media guys who’ve been laid off. Featuring Winston Noel, Brian Barrett, Gil Ozeri, Nate Shelkey, Saj Pothiawala, Mike Schroeder, Jared Neumark and Jen Statsky. Written by LandlineTV.com.

Steve Schwarzman’s Blackstone Group Caught Stealing FT.com Subscription

Robert Ivan — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 23:11:59 +0000

The Financial Times is suing the Blackstone Group for multiple use of a single online subscription. Since 2002 the suit alleges!! Come on, seriously? A subscription is like $179 and Schwarzman is worth about $6billion!

Read on:
Schwarzman: Too Cheap to Pay for a FT Subscription! -from CityFile

FT Accuses Blackstone of Login Abuse -from WSJ.com

Steve Schwarzman -from forbes

Remaindered Links January 16, 2009

Robert Ivan — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 18:54:59 +0000

Star Tribune files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy -from StarTribune.com
“The Star Tribune, saddled with high debt and a sharp decline in print advertising, filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition Thursday night.”

NYT going back to Facebook well -from NiemanLab.org
“The New York Times will be poking around on Facebook again next week with a marketing campaign focused on Barack Obama’s inauguration.”

Facebook Blows a Whopper of an Opportunity -from Techcrunch
Privacy issues on Facebook result in eliminating this great marketing campaign. It didn’t have to be this way.

Gannett Forces Employees To Take Unpaid Week Off -from TheOnion
The newspaper industry make it into The Onion’s “American Voices” series.

US Airways Plane Lands in Hudson River – View Related Pics, Videos, and Links

Robert Ivan — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 02:26:02 +0000

Lots of good links, video and pics of today’s US Airways flight 1549 emergency landing on the Hudson River in New York / New Jersey are available via this link at Kottke.org

The Headlines in Tomorrow’s Newspapers should be, predictable. What will the stories say in print that hasn’t been already explained and/ or better explained online?

UPDATE: January 18, 2009
Passengers tell the inside story of US Airways flight 1549 -from Guardian.co.uk

UPDATE: January 16, 2009
Doc Searls Links out to more Data and Pilot Bios

Twittering the US Airways Plane Crash -from WSJ.com
“Notch another win for citizen journalism.”

Twitter user becomes star in US Airways crash – Janis Krums sets Internet abuzz with iPhone photo -from NYdailynews.com

The plane hits the water at the 2:02 mark from the left side of the screen.